Break Blocks Composer Update

My current undertaking is for a music-based puzzle game called Break Blocks, which is being developed by Greater Good Games. The team is composed of three people: a programmer, an artist, and a composer (myself.) The game is turning out great, especially for being made by such a small team. The coolest part about it is that all extra revenue will be donated to various, to-be-determined-and-specified charities. Hence the name “Greater Good.”

I was initially approached by Dayle Flowers, a programmer at Tripwire Interactive (developers of the Red Orchestra games and Killing Floor.) He told me the premise, mentioned the charity thing, said both he and Noah Wood (artist) had day-jobs and this was being made on the side. This was perfect for me, still working a day-job while pursuing the dream in the early mornings, with lots of coffee (a bit of this and a lot of that. Black. None of that cream and sugar nonsense.)

The theme of the game is break dancing. The player clears puzzle pieces, created by his hitting the keys on the beat of the bass line, to make the character engage in various dance moves and outperform the opponent. There is a large variety of characters, each calling for their own style of music. My job is to create non-looping music that provides a steady bass line for the player to follow when creating the pieces.

While the game is based on break dancing, the soundtrack will follow the usual break dance music styles loosely. Instead of limiting the style, it will contain as much variety as has the cast of characters. This has been a lot of fun, intertwined with some frustration due to the mix of styles I am not very familiar with. Thankfully, the fun, knowledge, and experience I have gained from this project far exceeds any frustration.

The below set currently showcases the first songs for the Robot, Admiral, Beatnik, and Russian characters. The robot is certainly the odd duck, given the early 90’s hip-hop style. It was a lot of fun to create, but throughout the entire process, I had to remind myself to “embrace the cheese.”

I still have about 15 tracks to compose; there will certainly be more to come.

• Check out Greater Good Games and Break Blocks here: Greater Good Games
• Direct Link to the Dev Blog: Dev Blog
• Early Adopters Program, scheduled for May/June: Break Blocks Early Adopters Program

First Post – My Pet Rock Preview

Here we are!

I will begin this blog by presenting my music for a new Facebook game called My Pet Rock, developed by Pure Bang Games. My Pet Rock is a unique game in which you adopt rocks, customize their appearance, and use them to interact with other rocks (yours or your friends’.)

The game is still in Alpha, but Pure Bang is letting me show off the music, and for that I am very grateful. As I am still fairly new to the game industry, every bit of verifiable experience helps. As much music as I may be able to flaunt, developers like to see that a project will be finished and the music will fit the game like a glove. I think I’ve done just that with My Pet Rock.

The game called for a light-hearted soundtrack, promoting the game’s theme and main characters: rocks. To do this, I used xylophones, vibraphone, pizzicato cellos and violins, minimal warm synth, and rocks. The percussion used is made up of various rock-hitting-rock sounds, which was a lot of fun to put together. Overall, I am pleased with the sound and feel that it fits My Pet Rock‘s uniqueness.

Check the game out here: My Pet Rock

And check out the music preview here: